I've just finished Jesse Ball's novel, Silence Once Begun (great title). It is a very unusual and beguiling book. I had never heard of the writer until he came to the Brisbane Writers' Festival, where I saw him interviewed a couple of times. He was so eloquent that one of the other panelists joked, "It doesn't matter what I say because soon Jesse is going to speak and you'll all forget everything else that's been said." It was true. I had to get a taste of some of his writing. Silence Once Begun isn't Ball's latest novel, but it was the one that drew me. If you're looking for a beautifully-wrought, strange and compelling read, this is it. Eloquent indeed.